SHWI Eats is our dining out/foodie club where members can enjoy visiting restaurants across the city. Member and Food Blogger Ros recently reviewed the group’s trip to restaurant, Inox Dine on her blog The Nibbly Pig.
Inox Dine was the chosen destination of the Seven Hills WI Eats group (of which I am a member!). The restaurant is nestled in the heart of Sheffield University’s campus on Durham road.
If you have been to the Octagon before, look at the skies to the right and you will see the Inox Dine sign on the 5th floor in the student union building opposite.
The restaurant focuses on using local quality ingredients to produce a predominantly British menu with fusion influences. As you walk in, you come to a smart bar area where you can take a seat and enjoy a relaxed drink, as we did while others arrived. I indulged in a bottle of the local(ish) beer, an IPA from Nottinghamshire’s Welbeck Abbey Brewery.
Blanche, a fellow WI member and the restaurant and hospitality manager at Inox, welcomed us to our table. It was in a quiet spot, but actually we had the place to ourselves for the evening as we were the only diners.
The table was attractively laid with lit tea-lights, bottles of water together with an appetiser of sliced focaccia with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
The first courses were brought in and the presentation was precise and delicate. I had the chicken roulade which was well-seasoned and had a decent flavour, in texture it was similar to pate/rillettes. It was served with a red onion and ginger chutney and toasted onion bread. I am greedy by my own admission and I could have eaten more, plus (in my view) you need to have the right balance of toast to roulade, so a few more slices of toast wouldn’t have gone amiss.
The young staff were friendly and attentive, efficiently clearing the plates and topping up drinks between courses.
For mains, I went for the teriyaki Moss Valley pork belly with a ginger and garlic noodle broth. Again, this was a nicely presented bowl of food with vibrant colour from the sprigs of coriander and sliced red chillies. The balance of soy, ginger and spice in the broth was well-balanced and very flavoursome. The belly pork was cooked spot on, the meat was tender and crisp on the outside. A comforting dish and my kind of food, as I love anything with Asian flavours.
I didn’t indulge in dessert but I can say that the sticky toffee looked very nice and seemed to go down particularly well with those who’d ordered it.
At £12 for 2 courses or £15 for 3, the evening offered value for money (as part of the Inox’s early bird menu served from 11.30am until 6.30pm Tuesday to Friday, or until 5.30pm on Mondays). It was just a shame that the restaurant wasn’t a bit busier to add to the atmosphere. That said, a good night was had by all!
Inox Dine
Level 5, Student’s Union Building Durham Road Sheffield S10 2TG
Website: http://inoxdine.co.uk/ Twitter: @Inoxdine